Natural Yeast Sourdough Baguettes

I've been experimenting with different ways to make a super soft baguette that has a crispy crust and big holes inside using natural yeast. I thought the trick was in using instant yeast because it rose quickly but I have since learned that the trick is actually in how you knead the dough. As nice as it is to use a mixer, the trick here is to knead it by hand! Here is a simple recipe and a great tutorial on kneading by Chef Tess.

The Recipe:

6 C unbleached unbromated flour, or artisan flour
1 T salt
1 T sugar, optional (Chef Tess uses the sugar to help the instant yeast. I used it just as an experiment. All I can say is the bread turned out great. But it might be just as good without the sugar.)
2 - 2 1/4 C water

Combine the water and your natural yeast (2-3 C depending on how much is in your jar. I always just use the whole jar, leaving only about 1/4 C to feed and grow). I used a danish dough whisk to mix my ingredients.

Next add the sugar and salt and then 6 Cups sifted flour.

Mix as well as you can with the whisk. Then dump it all onto a lightly floured surface and knead it by hand for just a few minutes, only until the ingredients are well combined. Leave it on the counter to autolyze for 10 min. This is where the video comes in handy. Watch Chef Tess here. You will notice that Chef Tess mixes her ingredients in a different order than I recommend. That is because we are using natural yeast. I appreciate her recipe but I was mostly interested in her demonstration of the autolyze method and how she kneads her dough.

After the dough has sat for 10 minutes knead it by hand for another 8 minutes. Then put it in a lightly greased bowl, cover it, and let it sit for at least 6 hours. The goal is for it to more than double in size.

I apologize but I didn't get a picture of the dough after it had risen because I was in a hurry. I rolled out my dough following Chef Tess's method, dividing it into thirds and forming baguette loaves then placed each loaf on a baguette pan that I purchased here. I covered my dough with lightly greased wax paper and let it sit for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Just before baking score the top of your loaves with a lame. I purchased mine from weekendbakery.com. They also have great tutorials on how to score your bread. (And they sell the extra large plastic bowl that you see pictured above).

Bake the loaves in an oven that has been preheated to 450 degrees. Don't decrease the temperature after putting the loaves in. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a thermometer inserted into a loaf reads 180 degrees.

The result was a beautiful baguette that was crispy on the outside but divinely soft and light on the inside. I wasn't too thrilled with the baguette pan though because the loaves rose into each other. I think next time I will try a cookie sheet like Chef Tess uses. I will keep experimenting but in the meantime please feel free to share any hints or tips you might have for making a great baguette!

Easy Honey Whole Wheat Bread with Steel Cut Oats

I've been making this recipe for a few months now and really love it so I thought I would share. It's very similar to the Honey Whole Wheat recipe except I've omitted the eggs and added steel cut oats. I've also added a new step, autolysis, which I'll explain in a moment.

Here's the recipe:

3 C water
2 C or all of your natural yeast
2 t salt
2/3 C or less local honey
8 T or less coconut oil
1 C steel cut oats
about 9 C total flour (I use 2 C sifted unbleached unbromated flour and about 7 C freshly ground hard white wheat)

In my bosch I combine the water and yeast. Then I add about 5 C of the flour. I cover and mix it on the second speed setting for just a few min then leave it covered and let it sit for about 30 min. This is the autolyse stage.

Here are a few good explanations I found online for Autolyse.

1. Web Definition: In biology, autolysis, more commonly known as self-digestion, refers to the destruction of a cell through the action of its own enzymes. It may also refer to the digestion of an enzyme by another molecule of the same enzyme.

2. This comment was posted in response to a question about autolysis on seriouseats.com:

"It's more than just gluten development. Flour does not immediately absorb water and the waiting period is necessary to allow for full saturation. It's a lot like pouring milk into a bowl of cereal. At first the outside of the cereal may be wet, but it is still crunchy inside. It takes 15 to 20 minutes for the cereal to become soggy. Now imagine the individual grains of flour as tiny little balls. When you mix them with water they will be coated at first, but it takes time for them to soak through."

3. From a site called abreadaday.com I found another great explanation for the whole process:

"Let me explain what exactly “autolyse” means.  Etymologically speaking, it’s the French word for the biological term “autolysis”, which is from the Greek words meaning “self” and “splitting”.  Huh?  What’s that got to do with bread?

Well, autolysis refers to the destruction of a cell by its own enzymes, or “self-splitting”.  In baking, this means that enzymes in flour (amylase and protease, if you really want to know) begin to break down the starch and protein in the flour.  The starch gets converted to sugar, and the protein gets reformed as gluten.

Why would you want to do this?  When you knead the dough, aren’t you just trying to do the same thing – form gluten?  Well, yes, ultimately; but when you knead dough, you also oxidize it (expose it to oxygen).  Over-oxidized (or, over-kneaded) dough results in color and flavor loss in a finished bread, which means it’s pale and tasteless.  By giving the mixed flour and water time to go through autolysis on their own, you achieve the same result, but without any of the unpleasant effects of oxidation.  Additionally, an autolyse period gives the flour time to soak up all the moisture, resulting in more orderly gluten formation (um, long story short).

What this all means for your bread is that your dough will be easier to handle before it’s baked, and the end product will taste better, have better texture, look better, and have better keeping qualities.  What’s not to love?"

In most explanations for Autolyse the method is to combine the flour and water, let it rest for 20 - 30 min and then add the rest of your ingredients, including instant yeast. For this recipe, though, I added the natural yeast to my water like I always do and then added about 5 Cups of the flour. I mixed it as I mentioned and then let it sit covered in the bosch for 30 min. (I think I will try just mixing the flour and water sometime in the near future and then adding the yeast after autolyse. I'll let you know how that turns out.)

Then I added the rest of the ingredients and mixed it in my bosch for about 8 min. The dough should not be too dry and it's ok if it's a little more on the sticky side. I put it in a large greased bowl, covered it and let it sit for 12 hours.

The next morning I divided my dough into 3 32 ounce loaves (it helps to have a food scale to measure the dough in order to get even sized loaves) and put them into greased baking pans. I covered these and let them sit for 1 1/2 hours. In the meantime I preheated the oven to 400 degrees. After putting the loaves into the oven I turned the heat down to 350 degrees and baked them for about 30 min. I do have a convection oven and I always use that setting when baking my bread. I also put a shallow pan of water on the bottom rack in the oven as it's preheating.

The result was a light, airy loaf with incredible flavor and a slightly crunchy crust. It's heavenly.